No problem. Not for Arsene Wenger and his new-look Gunners at Anfield.

Not when Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski already look so at home. Not when Abou Diaby, the forgotten man of the Emirates, can dominate with such ease, making the scale of Brendan Rodgers’ rebuilding job look ever more testing.

Many of the Gunners fans who headed north were fearful, wondering if their players had the heart, the courage to fight.

In Pod we trust: Lukas Podolski of Arsenal scores at Anfield (Image: John Powell/Getty)

Questioning, after two blanks and the slew of summer ­departures, the club’s direction.

By the time they began their journeys back to London, all had changed.

Still unbeaten, still to concede – kudos, surely, must go to new ­assistant manager Steve Bould. And still a force to be reckoned with.

Anfield, a suffering, cowed Anfield, witnessed first Gunners goals for Podolski and Cazorla, clinical finishes that emphasised the stark difference between the sides.

As for Pepe Reina, the Liverpool keeper must now be dreaming of a game without a shocking blunder.

The longer this one went on, the more pointed was the divide between the teams, the 99th anniversary of Bill Shankly’s birth bringing only pangs of frustration for Rodgers.

Even those Arsenal players who began hesitantly, not least Per Mertesacker and Carl Jenkinson, ended composed and confident.

Stand up and be counted: Joe Allen(L) and Nuri Sahin(R) of Liverpool in action with Lukas Podolski (Image: John Powell)

And the ones who began with a flourish, stamping their authority in the key areas of the pitch, flowered, improved and bossed proceedings.

Diaby did not make a start last season, just 17 the year before, yet he filled the Alex Song-sized void with impeccable drive and determination.

Cazorla and Mikel Arteta were simply too cute for lacklustre, limited Liverpool, whose failure to back Rodgers’ judgement over Clint Dempsey seems even more bizarre.

When it mattered, too, Arsenal had the killer thrust that ­punctured any home positivity, as witnessed in the 31st minute.

Group hug! Lukas Podolski of Arsenal celebrates his goal with team mates (Image: John Powell/Getty)

Steven Gerrard’s attempt to find Luis Suarez was intercepted by Thomas Vermaelen and when the ball reached Podolski, Arsenal counter-attacked with ­devastating conviction.

The German fed Cazorla but kept running 50 yards to take a beautifully-weighted return pass into space Glen Johnson failed to fill, picking his spot to squeeze a left-foot shot past Reina.

It was Arsenal’s first goal of the season and should have been followed with a second before the break. But Olivier Giroud, with Kieran Gibbs screaming for the pass that would have handed him an open goal, swung his left foot and sent the ball into the Kop.

Liverpool were still asking Howard Webb why he had not awarded them a penalty when Raheem Sterling’s advance was halted by Mertesacker, although replays showed the centre-half had made contact with the ball.

Sterling, fast becoming a local hero, had also turned the lumbering Jenkinson to fire against the outside of Vito Mannone’s post.

The winger and Joe Allen were both more poised than many of Liverpool’s established stars.

Arsenal, however, were ­altogether more inventive, neat and sharp. Cazorla duly bagged his first Premier League goal in the 68th minute.